


(You Make Me) Smile Like The Sun

by sadhockeytrashbaby (allofthefandoms)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Modern Royalty, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Still Hockey Players
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 07:48:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7926583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofthefandoms/pseuds/sadhockeytrashbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Love is everywhere and your grandparents are proof of that.  But to have a part of your soul out there in the world inside another person, that’s an entirely different sort of gift.  You may not love them the way your grandparents love each other or the way I love your mother.  But you will love them, and they will be perfect for you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	(You Make Me) Smile Like The Sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunshinexbomb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshinexbomb/gifts).



> So I was asked to pinch hit for the exchange and was given either a soulmate or royalty AU and I was like WHY NOT BOTH and this idea was born. I'm not all that happy with the ending, and really want to add another chapter or a sequel but here we are.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The photo realistic eagle comes in when Niklas is 12.

He spends the night tossing and turning, his leg sending sharp pains up his spine. He wants to run crying to his mamma, but he’s a big boy now and big boys don’t do that. He manages to fall into an exhausted sleep around dawn. His father wakes him, a worried frown on his face.

“You missed breakfast, alskling,” he murmured, stroking a curl out of Nicky's face. Nicky feels a rush of shame before a twinge in his thigh reminds him of the painful and sleepless night. He throws back the blankets, worried that he would find a horrible wound only to blink as the mark stares up at him. It’s so vivid that Nicky expects it to fly right off his skin.

His father’s face melts from worry into a soft mix of joy and sadness that Nicky can’t quite understand.

“A bond mark. You’re very lucky Nicky. It’s a rare and precious gift. Not even the king and queen were as lucky as you.” 

“But farfar and mormor love each other so much.”

“Love is everywhere and your grandparents are proof of that. But to have a part of your soul out there in the world inside another person, that’s an entirely different sort of gift. You may not love them the way your grandparents love each other or the way I love your mother. But you will love them, and they will be perfect for you.” Niklas frowns and rubs his leg.

. .

Alexander Ovechkin claps him on the shoulder and Nicky knows.

It’s not like there’s a heavenly choir or some bold out of the blue. Nothing seems to even change really, save for a deep seated surety that settles into his bones. He can’t help but wonder if his love of hockey had been the tug of fate making sure they met despite all the pressure from his family to be a polite and quiet heir.

(They gotten the polite and quiet bit at any rate. Even his palace polished English fails him in front of the cameras, so he settles for smiles and a few rote, well practiced words as he churns right below the skin.)

Seasons pass and Nicky grows surer and surer that Alex is the one. Every day seems to bring something new to love, from the endless, childish, and pure way he loves hockey to the way his teammates’ success means more to him than his own. Alex looses a tooth and his newly snaggled smile is so endearing that Nicky has to look away the first time he sees it. Alex mistakes his expression for disgust and spends the better part of a week shoving his smile into Nicky’s face.

It makes the revolving door of women in Alex’s life that much harder to bear.

Nicky doesn’t even know if Alex carries his own mark, and even if he did Nicky knows that isn’t a promise that Alex feels the same way as he does. Most soul bonds weren’t even romantic, no matter how much Nicky wishes life was like the romance novels he staunchly denies reading.

But no amount of knowledge keeps Alex out of Nicky's mind late at night. The day's touches, every clasped hand or lingering hug, morph into intimacy during the wee hours. The phantom touches send shivers dancing across Nicky’s skin, filling his cock and making him gasp in the muffled darkness of his hotel rooms. He can’t (and won't) count the number of times he’s come with Alex’s name on his lips.

So he shoves his growing feelings out of his mind, focusing instead on their hockey. It’s beautiful and effortless and the only place their bond doesn’t hurt.

. .

The gasp of the crowd over the shrill whistles of the refs is the first sign that something is wrong. Nicky turns and zeros in on the crumpled form on the ice. 

Alex.

He feels as frozen and as cold as the ice as medical personnel rush out to the fallen man. He knows they need room to work so he doesn’t skate over. Braden skates over to Nicky, tapping him with his blocker in silent comfort. The touch makes him flinch. 

The referees decide to send the teams to the locker room early, and Nicky tries not to shake as they skate off. They are just getting the stretcher out, and he lingers by the tunnel for a long moment before heading down. 

The doctor gives them a bit of news, bad the overall verdict for Alex’s condition. Nicky rubs his bond mark through his pants, praying not to feel the telltale burn of a lost bond. He’s so distracted that he doesn’t hear coach call his name, and it isn’t until someone shoves him that he starts hearing again.

. .

They win the game, but no one can be happy about it.

Nicky manages to get out without having to talk to the press, driving to the hospital without even driving home first. He grips the steering wheel to keep his hands from shaking. They won’t tell him anything and eventually he corners one of the Capitals staff, eyes wild and desperate.

“Please,” he begs. “I have to see him!”

“Nicky…”

“He’s my soul mate!”

It’s the first time Nicky had ever admitted it out loud, and something inside him seems to crack open. It must be all over his face because the man takes him to Alex without another word.

It’s even more awful up close.

A patch of his hair has been shaved away so the doctors could stitch the wound, and his face is pale and sunken. It’s hard to imagine that just a few hours ago Alex was bouncing around the locker room, laughing and joking with the team. There is an IV in his arm, and Nicky does a double take when he sees the beautiful mark curling around Alex’s wrist and forearm.

Plenty of people cover their bond marks for many reasons, and Nicky had been so used to the cover that he barely saw it anymore. So seeing it was a total shock.

Even more so because Nicky knew exactly what it was.

Seeing the filigree crown picked out in perfect detail on Alex’s arm is both warming and chilling all at once. He’s frozen with the knowledge that Alex was his, but that it still could end up very different than what he hoped. Alex, as far as Nicky knows, has never shown the slightest interest in men. And Nicky would never let his feelings get in the way of their on ice chemistry or off ice friendship. But the very sight of it shakes cracks through his very careful façade.

A whimper draws him from his reverie, and he presses the call button with shaking hands as Alex comes to. He’s pressed aside as nurses and doctors come in to examine him, but eventually Nicky is let back to Alex’s side.

“How are you feeling?” Nicky asks softly, resting his hand over Alex’s.

“Head hurts…” Alex’s voice is thick with pain and Nicky gives his hand a squeeze. Alex seems to his mark is exposed and he looks away. Nicky can’t quite figure out his expression, but there is regret under the pain of the injury.

“Sorry…” Alex whispers, not meeting Nicky’s gaze.

“Excuse me?”

“Pretty princess waiting somewhere for me…”

“Not a princess…a prince.” Nicky’s voice is lopsided and scared and elated all at once as he shifts so Alex can see the two headed eagle on his skin. “That’s one of the Swedish royal coronets. Mine, in particular.” Alex’s expression melts, and Nicky can’t help but match his smile.

“Wanted it to be you…best center.” Alex tangles his fingers in Nicky’s and doesn’t stop smiling at him until the nurse kicks Nicky out.


End file.
